blog 7

I enjoyed all the readings for this week. First, I really liked Macrorie's handout and the idea behind the I-search paper. While I was reading about the process that goes into this paper I realized that this is automatically what I do anytime I want to learn more aboout a subject. For example, when I read The Poisonwood Bible, I wanted to learn more about King Leopold and his colonization efforts in Africa. So I took out books and looked up articles on the computer to learn more. Had I been assigned this topic in a history class I probably would not have been so enthusiastic about it, but because I had a personal desire to learn more in relation to the book I had just finished, I was eager to find anything I could to learn more about the topic. This is what I usually do anytime I finish a book or a movie, or maybe hear something on the news, and I want to find out more about it. I think the I-search paper is a smart idea because a person's natural curiosity is the best motivator in any research situation. And of course, as we learned before, when a writer is interested in the topic the paper is usually easier to write and turns out better in the end.

This goes right into Spandel's chapter on the right to choose a personally important topic. As a person who has always had (and still does) trouble choosing a topic for papers, I found it interesting that Spandel says it is a teacher's responsibility to help their students learn how to select topics for writing. I wish that is one of the things my teachers would have taught me in school. If we ever had the opportunity to choose our own topic, I was always baffled as to what to choose. Instead of helping me find a topic, the teacher just assigned me something. At the time I thought they had made my problem go away, but now I realize they made the problem worse. Spandel wrote that students who have not had practice selecting a topic may feel abandoned and adrift when asked to do so, and this is certainly the reaction I have every time I am asked to choose a topic. Before reading this chapter I also never realized how important it is to the writer to learn how to choose topics. I never considered what an essential part of the writing process topic selection is. I only wish someone would have taught me this sooner.

I am looking forward to the I-search paper because I think I've been doing this all my life without even knowing I was I-searching. Besides, it's much more fun to research something you actually want to know about as opposed to something you are forced to question.